Patricia Ziff, a Law Forum First Year Staff Editor, wrote the following summary of our Spring 2023 Symposium: Blazing the Trail which was held on February 16.

This past February, the University of Baltimore School of Law’s Law Forum hosted its annual symposium entitled, “Blazing the Trail—Maryland’s First Black Lawyers and the Legacy They Built.”  The symposium highlighted the challenges Maryland’s early Black lawyers faced in gaining admission to the bar as well as obstacles Black lawyers continue to face today when seeking bar admission.  Professor Jose Anderson of the University of Baltimore School of Law and the Hon. Dana Middleton, associate judge on the Baltimore City Circuit Court moderated the panel. Panelists included Texas jurist, lawyer and author John Browning, Maryland lawyer Domonique Flowers, the Hon. Pamila Brown, J.D. ’79, administrative judge of the Howard County District Court, and the Hon. Lynn Stewart Mays, associate judge on the Circuit Court of Baltimore City.                                                                                                                           

The symposium discussion highlighted the work of Browning who is leading the charge to have Edward Garrison Draper posthumously admitted to the Maryland bar. In 1857, Draper, a Baltimore-born, Dartmouth-educated Black man, was examined for Maryland bar admission by Judge Lee, a first cousin to Robert E. Lee. Judge Lee concluded that Draper was “qualified in all respects,” but could not practice law in Maryland as he was not a “free white citizen of this state.” Draper would leave Baltimore for Liberia and succumb to tuberculosis within a year of his arrival.

The symposium highlighted Browning’s groundbreaking article and supported the Maryland Supreme Court’s effort to rectify the unjust denial of bar admission to Draper in 1857. Moderator José Anderson noted Maryland’s role in fighting for justice stating, “[w]hat happens in Maryland matters,” he said. “We shouldn’t hide the struggle.” With the efforts of Browning and Flowers, Maryland could join Pennsylvania, New York, and Texas in granting posthumous bar admissions to Black men, like Draper, who were wrongfully barred from practicing law in those states. “Justice doesn’t have an expiration date,” Browning said.                                                    

The event was co-sponsored by the Historical Committee of the Bar Association of Baltimore City, Gallagher Evelius and Jones, the Harry A. Cole Judicial Council of the Maryland Judiciary, and CRC Salomon.

-Patricia Ziff, Law Forum First Year Staff Editor

Tom Hall of WYPR’s podcast show, Midday, interviewed Judge John Browning and Domonique Flowers about the Symposium’s topic on February 9. Please Listen here.